Joffrey Ballet's 'American Icons' Showcases Diverse Dance Traditions

The program features works by Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, Martha Graham, and Glen Tetley, representing the company's immigrant roots and American spirit.

Published on Feb. 20, 2026

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The Joffrey Ballet's 'American Icons' program, running through March 1 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, is a melting pot of dance styles and choreographers that collectively communicate a modern American perspective on the Old World. The program showcases works by Joffrey and Arpino, as well as dances by founding company dancer Glen Tetley and iconic modern choreographer Martha Graham, evoking a range of influences from Old Vienna to Ancient Greece.

Why it matters

The Joffrey Ballet, founded in 1956 by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, is quintessentially a company of immigrants in an American city powered by immigration. The 'American Icons' program reflects the company's diverse roots and the statelessness of dance, while also representing an essential Americanness.

The details

The program opens with Arpino's 'Kettentanz,' a lively waltz, polka, and galop suite that showcases the Joffrey dancers' technical prowess. Graham's 'Secular Games' features a loose, playful energy, with the male dancers jousting through stag leaps and other Graham-esque angularities. An excerpt from Joffrey's 'Postcards' is a romantic and fresh pas de deux, accompanied by a Satie chanson. The final work, Tetley's 'Voluntaries,' is a move into maturity, alternately elegiac and hopeful, grappling with mortality and meaning.

  • The Joffrey Ballet's 'American Icons' program is running through March 1, 2026 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The players

Robert Joffrey

The founder of the Joffrey Ballet, with a Pashtun father and Italian mother, who helped establish the company's immigrant roots and American spirit.

Gerald Arpino

The second-generation Italian immigrant who co-founded the Joffrey Ballet with Robert Joffrey and contributed choreography to the 'American Icons' program.

Martha Graham

The iconic modern choreographer whose work 'Secular Games' is featured in the Joffrey's 'American Icons' program.

Glen Tetley

The founding Joffrey company dancer whose work 'Voluntaries' is the final piece in the 'American Icons' program.

Lyric Opera of Chicago

The venue hosting the Joffrey Ballet's 'American Icons' program.

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What they’re saying

“Collectively the works by Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, Martha Graham and Glen Tetley represent an essential Americanness even while expressing the statelessness of dance.”

— Martha Bayne, Dance Critic (suntimes.com)

What’s next

The Joffrey Ballet's 'American Icons' program will continue its run at the Lyric Opera of Chicago through March 1, 2026.

The takeaway

The Joffrey Ballet's 'American Icons' program showcases the company's diverse roots and the exceptional melting pot of dance traditions that make up its American identity, proving that mission-driven, immigrant-founded institutions can thrive and endure in the modern era.